Mullan Expedition

confluence circa 1860Lt. John Mullan’s camp was located at the confluence of the Big Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers during the winter of 1860-61, when he was in the process of building the military road from Fort Benton, Montana, to Walla Walla, Washington.  A newspaper article in 1916 noted that Mullan's camp, which he called "Cantonment Wright," was partly on the lumber yard of the Western Lumber Mill and partly on the Old McCormick Ranch, which is now overflowed by the backwater of Clark’s dam.  Mullan (who eventually became Captain) and his crew improved the road from there to Fort Benton in 1862.  

Although designed as a military road, the Mullan was used only once for troops; it was used primarily for supplies to the gold camps in Montana.  The bridge they built across the Big Blackfoot was located downstream from today’s Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge.  Evidence of the Mullan Road in this area was still noted on Anaconda Company maps in 1913, as well as early photographs.  Eventually it disappeared with the construction of I-90 through Milltown in the 1960s.  

In his report from November 1861 to May 1862, Mullan noted the following: "A portion of my escort with its trail, also went to the junction of the Hell’s Gate and Blackfoot rivers under Lieutenant Marsh, that point having been selected as the site of our winter camps, where he was to erect the necessary log-houses.  I was governed in this selection by the fact that the Big Blackfoot was here to be bridged, and my remaining work for the winter and spring lay along the valley of the Hell’s Gate…the party remaining at the main camp having completed their huts began getting out the necessary timbers for the Big Blackfoot Bridge…and by the 1st of March we had completed the entire bridge which was two hundred and thirty-five feet long with four spans.

"Cantonment Wright, so called in honor of General Wright, a warm friend of our enterprise, was now abandoned; though a cold and bleak place it nevertheless proved a suitable point for our purposes.  The camp was situated on the high flat in the forks of the Blackfoot and Hell Gates rivers where timber was abundant and close, but exposed to the bleak winds that at times come down the valley of the Blackfoot. It was found to be an abode of not over much comfort…"

The artist who accompanied Mullan, John C. Gustavus Solon, created a lithograph of the area included in Mullan’s report. It is the first illustration of the area that became so important for the corporate electric and lumber interests.

For additional information, visit the Eastern Washington University's Mullan Trail history site.